Abstract
Parallel import is an international trade issue caused by intellectual property protection and is regarded as one of the most confusing phenomena related to intellectual property rights in the field of international trade. With the development of economic globalization and the continuous advancement of China’s reform and opening up, the country, which tightly integrates into the world structure increasingly, will be bound to face more and more parallel import issues. In particular, with the comprehensive effects of national trade policy, new business forms of economic development and trademark owner business model, trademark parallel imports are becoming increasingly prevalent, and the proper settlement of their disputes is not only related to the trademark law itself, but is also closely linked to international trade and competition order.To effectively handle the issues concerning trademark parallel import, China should not only conduct in-depth research and accurately grasp relevant basic theories to ensure that the countermeasures it adopts are scientifically reasonable and clear in thinking methods, but also set its eyes on the whole world and learn to obtain valuable experience and seek beneficial reference from the legislative and judicial practices of foreign countries and international community as well as those of Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan. Moreover, China should sort out its business and judicial practices to ensure a clear understanding of the complexity of practices of Chinese trademark parallel import.
Based on the above considerations, China's legal regulation of trademark parallel import issues does not mean that clear and specific norms have to be formulated, but rather the principles of handling disputes should be clearly defined and legislation should clarify the recognition that is definite and consensual, leaving the rest for the judiciary to measure. The dissertation therefore proposed an interests-balancing principle to handle trademark parallel import issue, including: balancing international rules compliance and safeguarding national interests; balancing interests in application of trademark law, foreign trade law, tariff law and competition law; and the balance of good faith doctrine with interest balancing principle, as well as balancing various function of trademark regime. In practice, the actual problems presented in specific cases have to be responded timely and prudently advanced, and a gradual and orderly path of legal growth should be adhered to; for general cases, flexible solutions should be adopted and legal identification and full reasoning be emphasized; foreign experience should be referenced to clarify prohibited conditions and exemptions.
| Date of Award | 24 Sept 2019 |
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| Original language | Chinese (Traditional) |
| Awarding Institution |
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| Supervisor | Wenwei GUAN (Supervisor) |